Building on the idea that digital games are more than trivial pastimes and can have deeper meanings, this article collection brings together emerging findings from the field of game studies. The foundation for this thematic issue was laid at the 2023 symposium of the Digital Games Research Section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) held in Madrid. The articles in this collection examine the rich content of games as cultural artifacts and how they encourage reflection, the role of games as social environments and learning tools, the dynamics of identity negotiation and socialization in gaming contexts, the societal perceptions of games, and the increasingly important roles of games and game studies in mediatized societies.